Alright, I'm Starting to Get Pissed Off

Some of the shit I see in the threads lately is really starting to get under my fucking skin.

Without pointing fingers I want you all to remember what this site is supposed to be about.

This crap is making me think of closing up shop and enjoying life again.

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It's sad to see the infighting. Trying to keep it positive. Thanks JtC

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@QMS
blue is the new orange.

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@JtC
But I do see your point.

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WaterLily's picture

Cut the shit, people.

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JekyllnHyde's picture

@WaterLily

Seriously, folks. It's just the internet. Don't feel compelled to win an argument every. single. damn. time. Sometimes, it's best to maintain a healthy distance from your online exchanges and just let it be. You'll still survive, maybe even thrive.

I post this periodically. It might be helpful.

JekyllnHyde's Ten "Do's and Don'ts" of Blogging

  • Do remember there is a live human being at the other end of the blog exchange. One who is sensitive, has emotions, and may not react well to constant criticism. Some of us often lose sight of that fact.
  • Don't belittle or disparage anyone in your comments nor hold personal grudges. Even if you had an unpleasant exchange, try to forget it by the next day. Move on.
  • Do have a high level of tolerance for dissenting viewpoints. You aren't the repository of all knowledge and wisdom.
  • Don't expect others to support your blogging efforts if you don't bother to reciprocate.
  • Do try to visit all kinds of diaries and, in particular, support the community diaries. It will strengthen your ties with others.
  • Don't express the first thought that crosses your mind, particularly when responding to an inflammatory posting. Take a deep breath before you do. Sometimes, just as in real life, reticence is a desirable trait.
  • Do rely upon humor to diffuse a thorny situation and gently disarm someone. Even if you disagree with them, walk away after the second or third exchange. Beyond that point, the conversation will usually deteriorate. Simply learn to walk away and don't insist upon having the last word. And, don't worry if you're on the losing end of an argument. In professional baseball, for example, the best hitters fail seven out of ten times and still have a chance to make it to the Hall of Fame.
  • Don't write anything that you wouldn't say to a person's face. This approach will help you restrain yourself.
  • Do recommend generously. Others also put in a great deal of effort in writing diaries and comments. It isn't all about you.
  • Don't ever call anyone a troll unless their behavior is very disruptive or egregious such as making racist, bigoted, or homophobic comments. Accusing others of trolling isn't about making you feel all-powerful.
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A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

@JekyllnHyde
a stalwart of civility you are, as always.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

That seems to be the fastest way to start a flame war nowadays, unfortunately.

Edit: Say, JtC, how come I can post when I'm not logged in yet? I've had this happen more than once - bug in the system?

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

@TheOtherMaven
intolerance across multiple issues. It's the antithesis of c99's raison d'être

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@TheOtherMaven
start happening?

Edit: Say, JtC, how come I can post when I'm not logged in yet? I've had this happen more than once - bug in the system?

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TheOtherMaven's picture

@JtC @JtC

Time to recheck site security? I could post with my name and avatar and everything, but I wasn't logged in!

Edit: So being a good little C99er, I went and logged in anyway. You might want to check for posts appearing prior to login time....

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

@TheOtherMaven
a security issue, it's a redirect issue. I suspect a setting was changed in one of the files when I upgraded the software a couple of weeks ago. That;s why I'm trying to pinpoint the problem, I don't see it myself and can't debug it unless folks tell me about it. See my comments at the bottom of this thread for more about it.

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It's disrespectful to the host.

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mhagle's picture

I don't have time to read everything these days . . . mostly stick to open threads, and they are very amiable.

Hope those involved are able to peace out!

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

gulfgal98's picture

But when it happens, it is far better to shut down your computer and take a walk or listen to some soothing music. I have some escapist videos I regularly watch when I get frustrated. For me it is tiny house porn and bushcraft videos. Both remind me of the beauty of a simple life which I find very relaxing. Find what works for you.

We can have lively discussion without it getting personal. The best way to do that is to back up your assertions with facts and most of all, keep it civil. Civility goes a long way to opening doors to understanding.

Most folks here have no idea how much time JtC spends on this site because he does 99% of it in the background. He has dedicated his life to ensuring this site remains a great place to visit and to have open ended, non-flame throwing discussions. We all owe it to each other and to JtC to ensure this site will remain that way.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

@gulfgal98
well said. Did most of us not flee from the BS that's popping up all over the threads here.

He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.
~Some guy named Freddy something or other.

If not careful, we may become that from which we flee.

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@gulfgal98 we were invited here. There are people here who do most of the heavy lifting to keep it what it is, and this personal bickering is an insult to the foundation of this site. We all have ideas that not everyone will agree with and that doesn't automatically translate to a personal affront. If you feel that, ask if that was what was meant. If you counter attack to something that wasn't an attack to begin with, you just end up at each others throat.

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something strange may be afoot. It's very unusual to see these kinda gross, blatant insulting comments tossed into the mix like I've been noticing the last few days here. Other sites? Sure, but I'm used to that. There's something, something, something about the site security, like it shows as an insecure site as far as passwords and credit cards and stuff. What are the chances of C99 being under some kind of weird, oblique attack? Is that even possible in this day and age?

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@jejune harpoon
elaborate on this further?

There's something, something, something about the site security, like it shows as an insecure site as far as passwords and credit cards and stuff.

What exactly are you seeing that makes you feel that way. I don't see it so if other folks are I need to know.

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@JtC It's strange. I was logging in and got a message that this site is insecure. I looked up what that meant and found our passwords and other sensitive information like credit card info is, well, not secure. I got around this by explicitly typing in the https url address and all was well again. Maybe my browser got hacked or dropped its browser ball or something. All I was trying to say was this site is pretty much famous and renown for a kind of civility and decency that is usually maintained by the participants. Next thing you know, poof. Well, there went that. This may just be a suspicion on my part and nothing to worry about. Hey man, what do I know?

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@jejune harpoon
That doesn't happen with me that's why I asked.

So when you go to login is there a green icon in your address bar denoting that the site is using https?

Is the initial address http or https.

When you first login is there a www before caucus99percent in the address?

Do you come to the site via a shortcut or a browser bookmark?

I upgraded the site software a couple of weeks ago, did it start then?

Is this happening to anyone else.

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@JtC you ask the perfect questions. I think 4 or 5 of the issues you mentioned are true or happened just like you said. I'm going to try logging out and logging back in to watch it closely this time. I'm using firefox like Snode.

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@JtC gotta be firefox. I logged out and clicked on FF bookmark and got 'caucus99percent' only in the address bar. No http. No https. Just an icon of what looks like an open padlock with a red diagonal slash mark through it. Typed in https://etc. etc. in the address bar and came in normally with a green, securely locked padlock looking thing which for some reason looks better than the other one. This is so technically beyond me I don't know if I'm describing it right. I think the bugaboo is firefox but that may reduce down to what my individual computer thinks what firefox is. I may try this on my laptop for comparison.

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@jejune harpoon
try this: you may be using an old bookmark that points to the site before we added the ssl certificate, that would cause the address to be http instead of https. Try deleting your old bookmark and navigate to the site, make sure the green padlock is showing in the address bar and https is there, and then make a new bookmark and see if that fixes it.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@jejune harpoon

Typed in https://etc. etc. in the address bar and came in normally with a green, securely locked padlock looking thing which for some reason looks better than the other one. This is so technically beyond me I don't know if I'm describing it right.

You're doing fine! (11 years as a helpdesk support tech -- you're doing it perfectly!)

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@JtC I got the same, using Firefox. I need to type in the user/pw everytime now, and when you do it returns you to the login screen again, but this time it auto fills. It shows in FF a yellow triangle with a ! next to the lock in the address bar.

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@Snode
see my reply to jejune harpoon above and please answer those questions if you can.

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@JtC That was it

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@JtC

...that there is an inordinately long pause on all navigation into and within this website. Like no other site and especially long lately.

This has always been a thing, no? I figured that it had something to do with image loading because the image vault has huge overhead.

I am not complaining about it. Just confirming the time drag for my own peace of mind.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

@Pluto's Republic
heavy load on the largest server that we can afford, which isn't much. With no income other than donations we work on a shoestring.

Lots of bells and whistles going on in the sidebar and site wise, some are redundant. I'd like to whittle it down to a bare bones operation but that would mean removing much of the site's user friendliness. One of the biggest db hogs is the thumbs up voting feature, I'm concerned about lower participation if that goes by the wayside.

We've been bombarded by bot scanners lately, we always have but to an extreme lately. We had a pretty good slow down about an hour ago, I looked at the logs and saw a huge string of folder and file requests from an IP in China, I blocked the IP and that helped. It's no different than what most sites face, it's a blight on the internet. Bots are always scanning. I delete over a hundred spam registrations per day, another drag on the db.

So I do the best I can to keep the ship afloat with what resources we have.

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@JtC

than appreciation and hugs - you are an absolute gem!

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

@Ellen North
right back at ya'.

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@JtC

to post something bouncy and cheering for the overall site:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV-HPOHu8mY&list=RDFV-HPOHu8mY&start_rad...

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle - Lyrics

Like the site, this to me illustrates a true centre to aim for, in which we can find ourselves and each other as individuals, appreciating (where possible) our differences and, in any event, adding them to our understanding of the varied mix of which life consists.

If mixing with those of different, albeit civilly expressed, views, bursts our bubble, we can always choose to take the opportunity to perhaps breathe more freely and see a little further, even if we may not always like the view. We have the option to ignore minor/transitory irritations which we know we cannot change while working together on what we potentially can. Or a reasonable and reasoned interchange may not only bring illumination to any/all involved, but help us to work more compatibly on shared issues while agreeing to differ on those where disagreement exists.

Nobody will ever agree on everything with everyone else - and, of course, the effect of generations of propaganda cannot be overcome in a single conversation. But if we do not work together on the essentials, nothing can be achieved, and nothing will be all that remains.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

mimi's picture

@JtC
just looking at myself and how dependent I am on the thumbs up voting feature.

One of the biggest db hogs is the thumbs up voting feature, I'm concerned about lower participation if that goes by the wayside.

I get worried if a comment from me doesn't get some thumbs up votes, thinking I said something "racist" or "sexist" or otherwise "ignorant". If that happens I tend to want to
redact most of such a comment, which again frustrates Mr. JtC.

Nevertheless you could give it a try. If there wouldn't be the thumbs up feature, responders to a comment would need to verbalize their approval and support or their disapproval and rejections. That makes it imo more valuable than just the click on the thumbs up. Of course most might just be too tired to explain themselves. I understand that.
It's not that easy.

I would like to be supportive of the money side of things. I also would be supportive of some reminders to some commentators or authors to write "in English" for the "Non Native Speakers". You folks understand most of your video's embedded snarkiness, I don't. And sometimes I just like to shout out, don't talk in ways that exclude all those who are not your kind of insiders.

So, there we go, whining and sniffing and being frustrated...
The less people say the more I like them ... Smile
Mr. JtC says not a lot ... go figure. Wink
Give rose

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@jejune harpoon

here's something, something, something about the site security, like it shows as an insecure site as far as passwords and credit cards and stuff.

If it's Mozilla Firefox returning that error, close any/all tabs or windows with c99 in them and then open a fresh windor or tab to: https://www.caucus99percent.com . Note the https prefix - be sure to use that. This action restores the c99 session on a secure site.

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides
the folder architecture was in a sub-directory of the caucus99percent forum. The forum was the primary domain and the website (c99p) was a subdomain. After a few months the website (c99p) was getting all of the traffic and the forum was dormant so I wanted to make the c99p website the primary and remove the forum from the server. When the change was made it changed the address from caucus99percent.blog.com to caucus99percent.com, so I had to install a 301 redirect to send folks to caucus99percent.com instead of caucus99percent.blog.com when they used their old bookmarks. That was easier than trying to tell all the members they had to update their bookmarks to reflect the address change.

I surmise that it's that redirect causing the login confusion, it may have been deleted in the software update a couple of weeks ago. So folks that are still using an old bookmark from back when the site was.blog are being directed first to the invalid .blog address and then the software corrects itself to the right page. Thus the double login page thing. I'll have to look into it. If that is the case deleting the old bookmark and creating a new one when the proper https site is up should fix the problem.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@JtC

If that is the case deleting the old bookmark and creating a new one when the proper https site is up should fix the problem.

Just FYI -- doing that fixed these problems for me.

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

I've been here for many years as a result of the anti-Bernie bent on most "progressive" websites. Check my comment history. My take is that the Dem party is our biggest enemy and is irretrievably lost. The multitude of politicians that have resigned or announced that they are not seeking another term have been compromised in my opinion. Does anyone really believe that Al Franken resigned because of the stuff that has been made public? I don't. It was the other stuff that that had on him. There have been numerous Republicans bowing out as well (Trey Gowdy, Paul Ryan, McCain). I give the Trump administration (wittingly or not) credit as being the catalyst for this. Once some semblance of fair elections is restored, then we can vote out pols like Trump based on his policies. Until then, every corrupt politician that is ousted is a WIN, in my opinion.

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@Bring Back Civics No man. I think there's some kind of glitch going on. Nothing anybody said or a least nothing you said.

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I have several tabs open. On this one, c99's url starts with https but does not have the lock. On others, the url says https and they have a lock too. When I click on the little i next to the url with no lock, it says “my connection to the site is not secure. Attackers might be able to see the images I'm looking at on this site and trick me by modifying them.”

So I opened other tabs to other pages. They show locks. The warning is only on this tab I. Sometimes I think computers and the internet were created to drive me nuts.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich

The community page is fine. When I click on this essay, there is no lock.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

@dkmich
it's a good opportunity for me to explain why that happens.

The site is still protected by https when that yellow triangle shows up. What causes it is an image or a link will get posted on certain pages that are not https encrypted and that yellow triangle reflects that. It's a warning that the image or link is not protected. When someone posts an image or a link that is not from a https protected site then that warning displays in the address bar. That's why some pages do it and some don't.

It's nothing to worry about, it happens all over the web. Go to DailyKos or other sites that allow images and links to be posted and navigate around and you'll see the same thing there. Bottom line is it's perfectly normal for that to happen so don't worry about the https security on this site, your data sent out from here is encrypted on all pages.

It ticks me off that browsers started issuing those warnings back some time ago because it scares the bejesus out of the folks that don't understand what it means.

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It's just this page that's affected. Everything else is fine. I am completely unbothered by this now although earlier that could not be said. This whole thing has been a lesson for me and not one inch of it was my fault.

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Citizen Of Earth's picture

is related to the comments in the "Trump the Great Deal Maker" essay.

Here's my take. Life is too short. If someone is making out of line comments, message them a warning. Then, on strike two give them a time out or final dismissal depending on severity.

This site walks a tightrope. We've got a government largely run by crooks and liars. It reeks of corruption. It's tough to stand by and listen to someone singing praises for, and promoting credibility and legitimacy for a politician that is looting us.

So JtC, thanks for this site. It is a great place to read progressive content and share thoughts with progressive people. And if I'm part of the problem, message me and I will leave quietly -- with thanks for the time I've spent here.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

@Citizen Of Earth
was that message writ large.

If someone is making out of line comments, message them a warning.

Thanks CoE.

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smiley7's picture

The modern discourse, disguised in partisanship and religious fervor, though now new, is traceable to the likes of Rove and Gingrich grown more mad in time through the carefully crafted media machine; sorry it bleeding into so many aspects of our lives.

Saw Doris Kearns Goodwin articulately ripping today's lack of civility the other night on cable, but can't find that clip, so here is another similar one, "The system is broken."

Of all the concerns we face in this country, i think i fear this the most: our little children attend taxpayer funded charter schools taught by teachers paid from the public coffers using textbooks featuring images of jesus riding dinosaurs. This breeding ignorance can not stand.

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@smiley7

my friend, thank you.

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Shahryar's picture

no two people travel the same path. Often, when people are on similar paths they bump into each other. It's natural, it's normal. Sometimes it hurts but as they go on their paths they disentangle from that collision and all is well again.

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when we feel incapable of correcting the drift of civility. Comes back to that competition vs. co-operation meme. Feel like we need to give each other a break on occasion. Communication will get better, if the benefit of doubt is cultivated.

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Alligator Ed's picture

@QMS The manner of acquisition may be polite, measured, well-intentioned, purposed for learning. Thus, that construct of "competition" lies in a betterment of ideas, improvement of ideologlogy and a firmer platform upon which to reason.

Then comes a more self-seeking and therefore destructive type of intellectual competition. One in which it is important that your idea prevail, rather than obtain a greater proximation of facts and reasonableness.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrxhinhc_T4]

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enhydra lutris's picture

@Alligator Ed
is not a tool to further refine our theories and models in search of a better and better simalcrum of "truth", but to "win" the discussions. It is pernicious and counter-productive.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

snoopydawg's picture

"The less you respond to rude, critical, argumentative people, the more peaceful your life will become...."

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.